Closer Watch - A closer look at intriguing ninth-inning situations (check out Dave Regan's Closer Grid with the link to the left)

Minnesota  The Twins acquired Matt Capps from the Nationals Thursday night, and his presence will force Jon Rauch, who had served as the team's main closer for the entire season, into a setup role.

Oakland  Regular guy Andrew Bailey landed on the DL Friday with a strained intercoastal muscle. There is no logical succesor in Oakland's bullpen, but it looks like Michael Wuertz could be option No. 1. Craig Breslow and Brad Ziegler could also factor into ninth-inning decisions.

Cleveland  Kerry Wood should be back from a blister injury in a couple of days, and he should temporarily retake his closer role from Chris Perez. I say temporarily because there is a decent chance the Indians try to waiver trade Wood after the July 31 non-waiver deadline.

Matt Garza v Yankees - The Yankees are generally a fantasy matchup to avoid, but Garza has historically held his own against their bats. He has yet to face them in 2010, but he posted a 2.08 in four winless starts during the 2009 campaign. Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher both have OPS's above 1.000 against Garza (1.233 and 1.815 repectively), but the rest of the lineup hasn't done anything out of the ordinary against him. He has only ceded four home runs over 147 plate appearances to their current crop of bats, and he struck them out 23 times in 26 innings last year. While he won't repeat Monday's no-hit performance, he has the potential to throw up another quality performance.

Bronson Arroyo v Braves  All I should really need to say is 1.042. That number represents that Braves' collective OPS over 151 plate appearances against Arroyo. That's right  they have a total .413 OBP and .629 slugging even after pitchers and scrubs are factored in. The Brave with the least career success against Arroyo has been Nate McLouth (.188/.235/.563), and he's tucked safely at Triple-A Gwinnett. Manager Bobby Cox would be nuts to keep Eric Hinske out of the lineup, as he has a 1.157 OPS in 28 plate appearances, a figure only topped by Chipper Jones' 1.413. Arroyo had a 7.11 ERA and 1.658 WHIP over 12.2 innings against the Braves in 2009, and he only made it 1.1 innings during his lone 2008 appearance against them.

Recommended Pickup

Dan Hudson, P, AZ - The trade rumors encircling Hudson finally materialized Friday afternoon when the White Sox dealt him to the Diamondbacks for Edwin Jackson. Not only does the trade get Hudson into the better pitching league, but it gets him out of an extreme-hitting home park. He leaves a good bullpen and solid offense behind in Chicago, so the wins might be a bit tougher, but Hudson has a shot of racking up more fantasy-friendly K totals in Arizona. He was only owned in three percent of Yahoo! leagues, but that number should increase with Friday's news.